She racked her brains for a reasonable excuse.
“Um…it’s fine! Mommy just had an allergic reaction!” she said in the end.
The kids exchanged looks, still not completely convinced.
Nicole pulled out her vitamin pills from her bag and gulped down a few in front of her kids to convince them, and it worked wonders.
“Sorry, Daddy,” Juan said, rubbing his head in embarrassment. “We didn’t mean to call you a meanie…”
Kyle and Nina lowered their heads in shame, while Maya walked over to her father and stuck out both her thumbs at him apologetically. “You’re a goodie, Daddy! You’re the best goodie in the world!”
Evan rolled his eyes. “Get out and eat your breakfast!” he growled at the kids.
The kids exchanged fearful glances and filed out of the room obediently.
Nicole glared at Evan. “Can’t you be more gentle next time? This is so embarrassing!”
Evan simply huffed and replied, “I don’t think so! Sorry!”
“Get out!”
After breakfast, Nicole put on a turtleneck sweater to cover up the hickeys before leaving to go to the estate with Evan.
Stephen had not expected them to visit him again, but he was happy nonetheless.
He took them to the tea room for some mid-morning tea.
“This is the house your mother wanted. I hope you’d like it too,” Stephen said.
That piqued Nicole’s interest. She stood up to take a look around and was surprised by a painting of her mother hanging on the wall right behind a screen.
During her first visit to the estate with her kids, she was awed by its minimalistic interior that looked nothing like the lavish mansion she had envisioned.
No wonder it’s so simple…it had all been for Mom!
No wonder he forbade everyone from visiting this place!
“What happened between you and Nicole’s mother back then?” Evan asked tactfully.
Nicole was impressed by how polite he sounded. I would have just asked him why he abandoned my mother!
They had agreed to let Evan ask all the questions, and Nicole’s role was just to sit in silence and listen.
Stephen closed his eyes as the memories raged on inside his mind. How should I go about with this?
After a short while, he looked up at Nicole and rasped, “Your mother had been the one who took the initiative.”
Nicole frowned anxiously, but she managed to keep her cool after looking at Evan’s calm expression.
“My mentor knows about this.”
“Can you hurry up?” Nicole demanded, her temper threatening to blow its top.
“Sure,” Stephen said, staring at the painting of Nicole’s mother Rosalie. “Since Rosalie’s watching, I shall tell you the whole story.”
With that, the truth that laid untouched for years was finally unearthed and dusted.
Twenty years ago…
Stephen Musgrave had been Wesley Monroe’s best disciple, and he had first met Rosalie Wells during an acupuncture session for a patient suffering from stomachaches.
Rosalie was a daughter of the renowned Wells family, and she had been impressed by his acupuncture skills.
“Can you teach me how to do acupuncture?” she asked Stephen eagerly after the session was over.
Stephen hesitated before he replied, “I need to ask my mentor about this.”
Even so, he proceeded to teach her a few techniques of acupuncture without asking for permission from his mentor.
Rosalie had taken a great interest in acupuncture, and she pleaded Stephen to become her mentor.
Stephen, on the other hand, introduced her to his mentor Wesley, who was moved by her compassion and impressed by her intellect. He agreed to take her on as his disciple in the end.
From then on, Rosalie and Stephen learnt acupuncture under their mentor together, and as time went on, Rosalie found herself falling for him.
